Unemployment up may be even worse?

November 30, 2017

Economy up, but unemployment also up?

I refer to the article “Unemployment rate at 3.1% as of June 2017; Employment rate continues to increase” (Channel NewsAsia, Nov 30).

It states that “The seasonally adjusted resident unemployment rate rose from 3 per cent in June 2016 to 3.1 per cent in June this year, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday (Nov 30).”

Don’t you find the increase in the unemployment rate kind of weird, as it does not seem to gel with the recent rhetoric that the economy is growing at a much faster pace than originally projected, the job market is improving, etc?

Also, why is there no mention of the citizens’ unemployment rate?

Moreover, with an average of 30,000 new PRs and 20,000 new citizens granted yearly – wouldn’t the unemployment rate be possibly higher, without the re-classification of such foreign workers into resident workers?

About the Author

Leong Sze Hian has served as president of 4 professional bodies, honorary consul of 2 countries, an alumnus of Harvard University, authored 4 books, quoted over 1500 times in the media , has been a radio talkshow host, a newspaper daily columnist, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow, columnist for theonlinecitizen and Malaysiakini, executive producer of Ilo Ilo (40 international awards), invited to speak more than 200 times in over 30 countries, CIFA advisory board member, founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of Indonesia and Brunei. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional qualifications.